The library’s
best friend
Annual book sale
By Cherie Chun
brings thousands to Hawaii's
public libraries
Star-Bulletin"Buggy books." Those are some of the odd donations that stand out in Bud Schwab's mind after 12 years of sorting through boxes of books for the Friends of the Library.
Schwab, a volunteer, remembers sifting through what turned out to be a collection of nearly 200 books about creepy crawlers that were donated to the Friends one year for their annual book sale, which is set this year for Saturday to July 18.
"There was box after box," said Schwab, a Hopaco retiree. "It was everything that had to do with bugs."
Schwab has also seen books that weren't really books at all. One was a commercially made safe disguised as a business book. The other was a hollowed-out book with $20 stashed inside. Incidentally, money that's recovered from books is donated to the Friends. Finds like these are rare among the thousands of books Schwab has handled, but he says they liven up the task.
"I think it's funny. I have a good time," he said.
Thirty other individuals make up the crew that works year-round preparing for the sale in a Kakaako building. Every month they sort through an average of 800 to 1,000 cardboard boxes that each hold roughly 30 books, said Caroline Dvojacki, Friends of the Library executive director.
It's the possibilities contained in those sealed cardboard containers that provide intrigue for many workers.
"When you're unpacking boxes . . . it's like Christmas. Beautiful books emerge," said Bob Fearrien, a retired Kapiolani Community College history professor who signed on as a volunteer last October.
"You open up a box and say, 'I wonder what's in this one?' " Schwab said.
The crew divides books into 60 categories, including children's fiction, foreign language, Hawaiiana and religion. Volunteers in charge of specific categories price the items based on age and condition. Or they set them aside for Goodwill, corrections facilities and other groups that need them.
Generally, age is more of a factor in determining whether technical books will make it to the sale. A medical book that's more than 5 years old usually won't pass the test because it might contain outdated information.
An old dictionary or car-repair manual, on the other hand, could still be useful. Bug-eaten or mildewed books also don't cut it. When the process is completed, priced books go back into boxes to wait for the sale.
"It's quite an operation," Fearrien said. "People come five days a week, and some come on weekends. A lot of hours are spent in preparation for that sale."
About 90,000 items will be offered in this year's sale. Besides books they'll include magazines, sheet music, records, videos, cassettes, CDs, puzzles, maps and pamphlets.
Retired librarian Nancy Nott has been lending a hand since 1962, and she has worked in the public library system from 1958 to 1991, primarily in Hawaii. Nott's basic love for books has kept her active as a volunteer.
"I occasionally take something home and read it and bring it back for the sale," she said. "I guess book people are never tired of books."
Fearrien spends only one day a week with the volunteers but says he enjoys the company of his fellow sorters and pricers, and he's not the only one.
As 10-year volunteer Pauline Armstrong put it, "I enjoy the books. I enjoy the work. I enjoy the people."
Friends of the Library
51st Annual Book SaleHours: 10 a.m.-9 p.m. daily, Saturday to July 17 9 a.m.-2 p.m. July 18
